The use of personal computers and hand-held computing devices for video communication has dramatically increased in recent years. This increase in video communication has been enabled in part by increased computing power and reduced computing cost, and has also been fueled by increased demand from use of social computing networks. Many laptop computers are now supplied with a built in camera to enable the use of video communication by the user.
One major use of video communication is for internet dating, where the users can see and interact with a potential partner from the relative safety and comfort of their own home before deciding to personally meet and interact with the other person. In the context of video dating, most people wish to look their best in order to appear as attractive as possible to the potential partner, and proper lighting plays an important role in the appearance.
Another increased use of video communication is for business meetings and video conference calls. The increased use of video for business use has been in part driven by negative global economic conditions and cost-cutting measures that have impacted travel budgets. The use of video conferencing provides an economic alternative to geographic travel. In order to make a positive impression on the viewer, such as during interactions with customers, supervisors, investors, etc., most people pay great attention to personal grooming and appearance, and are increasingly aware of how they appear in video.
In addition to the increased use of video communication for conference calls, journalists and film-makers are more commonly using video capture from personal computers for “vlogs” and “webisodes”, since the internet now provides instant widespread access to these communities. Image and appearance are also of particular importance within the industries of journalism and film.
Recent improvements in LED lighting technology have produced white LED light sources comprised of a blue emitting LED with an additional phosphor that produces a spectral output very close to the ideal CIE 1931 color coordinates of x=0.33 and y=0.33 for white light, as well as reducing the overall cost per lumen to the point of being affordable for consumer applications. These single-chip white LED's are more economical for consumer based products than a combination of individual red, green, and blue LED's used in a R:G:B=3:7:1 ratio to produce white light.
Because personal computers are used in close proximity to the user, the typical light sources that are either built in to the computer or camera, or as an added accessory, typically either do not illuminate the face completely and tend to create harsh shadows around the eye sockets and edges of the face of the user, or overilluminate the user and “wash out” the facial features. They also do not have adequate dimming capabilities for use with webcams and personal computers. Many LED white light sources tend to have a blue coloration to them from the primary blue LED source and poor phosphor matching, and do not closely match the CIE spectral coordinates of x=0.33 and y=0.33 for white light.
Light sources contained within a small area, such as a single point source or within a 2 inch area, do not provide suitable illumination to the face of a computer user sitting within 2-3 feet of the light source, even if multiple lighting elements are employed such as a multi-element LED flashlight. These types of light sources tend to over-illuminate the face of the subject and “wash out” the facial features, as well as create unflattering harsh shadows on the edges of the subject's face.
In contrast, contemporary glamour-style lighting for professional photography consists of a single source of light having a suitably sized illumination area being positioned slightly above and in front of the head of the subject at a suitable distance, thereby providing full illumination of the subject's face while casting slight shadows downward from the chin to create a more flattering contour around the cheekbones and neckline.
The following art has dealt with the field of LED lighting systems in general.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,305,818 issued to Lebens on Oct. 23, 2001 discloses a method and apparatus for LED illumination.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,848,802 issued to Chen on Feb. 1, 2005 discloses a computer light with an extensible electrically conductive wire.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,759,881 issued to Melanson on Jul. 20, 2010 discloses an LED lighting system with multiple mode current control dimming strategy.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,652,716 issued to Qiu on Jan. 26, 2010 discloses a computer-controlled lighting for video communication.
U.S. Patent Application 2009/0251560 by Azar discloses a video light system and method for improving facial recognition using a video camera.
U.S. Patent Application 2010/0124062 by Cercone discloses a video conference lighting fixture.